Peach Tree Times

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) would have the authority to initiate investigations into violations of the state’s election laws under Senate Bill 441, approved Monday by the Georgia Legislature.

Absent from the bill, to the approval of election law analyst Ken Cuccinelli, national chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative, was a provision that would have loosened restrictions on state and local election officials accepting private funding to help underwrite the costs of managing elections. The provision was in separate election legislation, House Bill 1446, that earlier moved through the Legislature.

“It is a solid step in the right direction,” Cuccinelli, the former Republican attorney general of Virginia, told the Peach Tree Times. "We were glad to see the loosening up of last year's Zuckerbucks provision removed from the bill.”

“Zuckerbucks” is a reference to the tens of millions of dollars that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg funneled through nonprofits to election officials in battleground states in the 2020 general election. In exchange for the money, the officials were expected to follow a set of voting guidelines, including the expanded use of mail ballots and drop boxes, which helped increase voter turnout in Democratic areas. A provision in HB 1446 would have allowed the private money if the donations were sent to Georgia State Elections Board, which would then be required to disburse the money with “no partisan advantage.”

Besides the authority to investigate suspected cases of election fraud, GBI would also have subpoena power over election-related documents under SB 441.

Garland Favorito, the head of a statewide voter integrity group, VoterGA, told the Peach Tree Times that the “real election integrity bill” was Senate Bill 89.

“It had unsealed ballots, some chain of custody additions and GBI subpoena power and none of the secretary of state negative language,” he said.

The bill was blocked from passage, Favorito said, by Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican. He blasted Duncan over the bill in a letter. 

SB 441 was passed on the last day of Georgia’s 40-day legislative session. Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, has 40 days to sign or veto the bill.